Good Guys Who Gave Back In 2015

15 Good Guys Who Got Into The Spirit Of Giving This Year

The holidays are a time to be grateful for what you have and to give back to those who are less fortunate. The spirit of the season tends to inspire generosity, but in a perfect world, we'd keep that sense of compassion and goodwill in our hearts all year round. 2015 saw some Hollywood heroes who were clearly channeling the spirit of giving all year long. Most of these guys are familiar faces from our Great Men Give feature last year, and are well-known for their philanthropic tendencies. Although these guys have the wealth and visibility to make some pretty grand gestures, no form of charity or goodwill is too small. Let these 15 good guys who gave back in 2015 inspire you to pass on some of your own good fortune.

LeBron James

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This year, LeBron James made headlines with a new initiative to give back to his hometown of Akron, Ohio. In August, James pledged $87M to provide full scholarships for 2,300 kids from Akron to the University of Akron as part of his "I Promise" program.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

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The first couple of Facebook made a grand gesture after the birth of their daughter by pledging to donate 99% of their shares in the company (about $45M) to charitable causes through their new organization the "Chan Zuckerberg Initiative". Following the announcement, Zuckerberg came under attack by critics skeptical of the nature of the organization (it is a limited liability company rather than a nonprofit, meaning it can make a profit and be used to fund political causes such as SuperPACs). However, Zuckerberg assured them that any profit made through the organization will be channeled back into it.

Michael Jordan

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Michael Jordan turned a somewhat ugly situation into something beautiful this year when he pledged to donate the proceeds from two lawsuit settlements to charity. Jordan sued two grocery stores for using his name without permission and, in mid-December of this year, donated the millions won in court to charities in his hometown of Chicago. Very cool move.

Evander Kane

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NHL Buffalo Sabres star Evander Kane has made it a habit to give under-privileged kids the kind of holiday celebrations they could usually only dream of. In the past, he's taken kids to Dave and Busters, donated turkeys for Thanksgiving and this holiday season, he took 50 kids on a $10,000 shopping spree at Target.

Leonardo Dicaprio

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Leonardo Dicaprio also had water on the brain this year, but in a different way. The star donated $15M to a number of environmental causes, including an organization called Oceans 5 that aims to preserve delicate oceanic ecosystems.

Kevin Durant

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Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant has become the patron saint of "Positive Tomorrows", an Oklahoma school that that specializes in aiding homeless youth. This December, he visited the school to drop off a donation check for $35,000, and also made a kid faint with disbelief in the process.

John Cena

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WWE wrestler, rapper and actor John Cena granted his 500th wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation this past August, making him the top wish granter in the foundation's history. Cena visited 8-year-old leukemia patient Rocco Lanzer in the hospital. However, Lanzer wasn't feeling well during the initial visit, and so, in true good guy fashion Cena returned for a second visit with a pair of tickets to Monday Night Raw, no less.

Matt Damon

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Matt Damon joined forces with Gary White to form Water.org in 2009, and since then the organization has helped to bring access to safe water and sanitation to more than 3 million people. Early this year, Damon teamed up with Stella Artois to launch the "Buy a Lady a Drink" campaign, which aimed to tell the stories of women around the world who struggle to collect clean water for their families and communities and collect donations to provide safe water for these women.

Seth Rogen

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Seth Rogen's annual "Hilarity for Charity" gala, which incidentally, also doubled as James Franco's bar mitzvah this year, featured Bill Hader and Miley Cyrus as performers and took in over $2M for Alzheimer's. That's a whole lotta good.

Bono

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Bono has turned lemons to lemonade out of the November 2014 Central Park cycling accident that left him with a titanium elbow and fearing that he would never play guitar again. As part of his RED campaign to raise money for AIDS research and prevention, Bono is offering one lucky donator the grand prize of a bike ride through Central Park and ice cream with the U2 front man himself.

Edward Norton

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Earlier in December, the story of a Syrian refugee identified only as "the scientist" posted on the Facebook group "Humans of New York" affected actor Edward Norton so deeply that he decided to reach out and help. The man had lost his wife and daughter in a bombing, was struggling with cancer, and as a refugee stuck in Turkey, unable to provide for his remaining children. The star set up a fundraiser to help the man and managed to raise over $400,000. "The scientist", whose real name is Refaai Hamo settled in Troy, Michigan on December 17th.

John Legend

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Another hometown hero, singer John Legend donated $500,000 to support the renovation of the Auditorium at The Springfield Center for Innovation: The Dome in his native Springfield, Ohio. Legend and his wife, former Victoria's Secret model Chrissy Teigen are no strangers to charity. Following the shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs in November, Teigen announced that she would make a donation to Planned Parenthood.

Every time shit like this happens, john and I immediately make another donation to planned parenthood.

George Lucas

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Despite the fact that George Lucas was busy this year preparing for the release of perhaps the most highly-anticipated movie of all time. he still found time to launch a plan to aid California's housing crisis. In April, Lucas announced plans to develop a 224-unit affordable housing complex over 52 acres of his Grady Ranch property.

George Clooney

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George Clooney launched humanitarian organization "Not On Our Watch" along with fellow leading men Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others in 2008. In November, the star paid a visit on behalf of the organization to Edinburgh sandwich shop "Social Bite", a non-profit that allows customers to buy food for the homeless. He made a donation of $1000 himself and urged people in the community to donate to help feed the homeless over the holidays. Clooney also agreed to address the audience at an award show organized by Social Bite's founder Josh Littlejohn, with the proceeds from the event going to Social Bite and Not On Our Watch.